


Animal

by darkalbino



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Bloodplay, Curse Seal!Sasuke, Demons, Kyuubi!Naruto - Freeform, M/M, Rough Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:12:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2083335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkalbino/pseuds/darkalbino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morals and instinct were never meant to mix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Animal

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written and posted on FF.net: December 9, 2009

  
The broken, heavy sound of their panting was drowned out by the screeching demons around them.  
  
One demon with sharp eyes and the wide, alert ears of a dog got on all fours. His fanged teeth flashed white through a wide grin, excitement flaring in his eyes. “C’mon Naruto!” He hollered in exhilaration. “Pin him! _Pin him_!”  
  
Another demon shoved the dog out of the way using the horns that sprouted from her head. Her long, red hair shifted about her face as she yelled, “Don’t you lose to that foxy faggot, Sasuke!”   
  
They continued to shout their support as two large demons writhed and twisted in the middle of the crowd.  
  
Naruto’s tails, nine red, bushy tendrils whipped frantically around both his and his opponent’s bodies as he pushed the other demon’s face into the black, rocky ground beneath them.  
  
The other demon used his wings, which were shaped liked clawed, webbed hands, to smack the fox demon aside, allowing Sasuke to clamber over him and pin his shoulders to the ground.  
  
They were both covered in sweat and dirt and blood, neither of them knew when the fight had begun, or how long it lasted. But those details were never important. What mattered was how excited they became during their fight, and how many demons showed up to watch who trumped who in the end.  
  
And this time…  
  
The winged demon smirked and pinned Naruto’s legs to the ground with his knees as the fox snarled and struggled beneath him, claws tearing at the ground as his tails brushed over Sasuke’s cheeks. He placed the head of his already leaking erection between Naruto’s ass cheeks, hearing the crowd erupt into both roars of encouragement and groans of shame as he did so.  
  
Sasuke chuckled, “I win this time, Naruto.”  
  
Just as he was about to surge inside the growling creature, the crowd parted and fell unnaturally silent.  
  
Sasuke looked up, distracted, and it only took that moment for Naruto to swing behind him and knock Sasuke off of his body so he skidded across the rock-strewn ground. “That’s what you think, fucker!” he hollered, scrambling after Sasuke, who lay disoriented on the floor.  
  
“Enough.”  
  
Both demons froze and looked towards the voice, their faces twisting into scowls as they met Kakashi’s mismatched eyes.  
  
The wolf demon smiled at them, just a faint upturn of his lips that sent a cold chill rippling over the crowd. “You’ve both been summoned,” he whispered.   
  


* * *

 

  
The humans who were unfortunate enough to be dragged down into the Dark Lord’s chambers were immediately and unquestionably overcome with a sense of terror and regret for whatever they might have done to wind up in such a place. Even demons, who were often called to this room, felt slick chills trickle down their spines from merely standing in it.  
  
The walls were a crisscrossing tangle of what looked to be thick, black wire. But if you leaned in close enough, you would find that every one of the millions of taut strands was actually a lock of human hair, collected and weaved from every poor soul who wound up in Hell since the dawn of time itself. Lacing through the hairs was a slew of different colored snakes, their hisses filtering through the air with the ease of incense. Roaches skittered along their smooth, scaly backs, scurrying across the fine strands with the seeming simplicity but none of the fault of a tightrope-walker. There were more creatures, some just as vile and repulsive with pungent breath and rancid skin, so disgusting that they were forbidden from crossing onto Earth, so there was no name for them.  
  
It was a dreadful place, cold and stuffed with such sorrow and anguish and hopelessness, Naruto had to cross his arms and thin his lips or he felt like he might choke on it all. His long ears came down as he shot Sasuke an urgent and demanding look beside him.  
  
Sasuke was already looking back at him, his golden irises flickering over the bleeding cuts and blooming bruises that he himself had marred the fox demon’s naked body with only moments ago. The marks always swelled him with pride and a sense of triumph, although that deflated quickly when he remembered his own nude self was very much in the same state, if not worse. That was why the penetration happened at the end; bruises fade away, humiliation lasts forever. That wasn’t to say that Sasuke hadn’t been pinned before, Naruto slamming in and out of his body mercilessly as the crowd cheered him on. But today had been Sasuke’s win, and he was immensely irritated that it had been snatched away from him.  
  
And that irritation trampled violently over the usual discomfort Sasuke experienced from being where he was now, the same discomfort he knew Naruto was trying to convey to him through that look, silently demanding Sasuke be the one to ask what the hell they’d been called for so they can hurry up and get out of this damn – quite literal – hellhole.  
  
Both demons turned to the center of the room, where the back of a throne, colored black as death, stared back at them.  
  
Sasuke’s tongue glided over his fangs, an attempt to loosen his lips. One of his hands came up and threaded through his long, ash-colored hair as he cleared his throat and pushed down the urge to ask Naruto where his dick had disappeared to. “You summoned us,” he turned his head to the side and grit his teeth, as the next words always posed a challenge for Sasuke to say, “my Lord?”  
  
There was a menacing curl of horns from the tip of the throne and dark tendrils swirled from its sides, all a striking contrast to the pale, almost paste-white hands that hung limply off its arms. The words that slithered from behind the throne were outlined in a voice that reminded Sasuke of the crush of dead leaves. “I have an assignment,” it said.  
  
Naruto’s ears picked back up at that. He uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, past Sasuke, which made the other demon growl and step beside him once more; always a challenge with them.  
  
Tentatively, Naruto spoke up, deep and strong but with an undeniable underlying of submission, “For both of us?” he questioned hesitantly.  
  
Abruptly, the Devil shot from his seat, effectively shoving both demons backwards so they stumbled over their own feet without even having to touch them. He glided from behind the throne, his long dark hair hanging in strings over his eyes, which peeked a sickly yellow between them as his hair swayed with each step he took closer to the demons. The Dark Lord was the only being in Hell who wore a shred of fabric over his body, a seamless red cloak that cascaded down to the floor.  
  
He finally came to a graceful slow and stop as his lips, riddled with cracks and dry to the touch as sand, stretched into a sinister smile. “Naruto,” he whispered, and Naruto’s tails twitched nervously behind him as the Devil reached up and took one of his ears, stroking it tenderly. He didn’t realize how tense the touch made him until he was released and his muscles cautiously loosened.  
  
The Devil chuckled and hushed out Sasuke’s name as well.  
  
Naruto bristled as their Lord traced a curled nail over Sasuke’s dark skin. His fists clenched at his sides and something white hot tore violently though his gut as that nail dug into one of Sasuke’s cuts – a cut _Naruto_ had made – and stretched the wound so it oozed black blood that made Sasuke hiss under his breath.  
  
The Devil glanced at Naruto, pulling his nail back, its tip drenched in Sasuke’s blood. “So beautiful.”  
  
Naruto could hear the painful grind of his own teeth as those eyes turned back on Sasuke, and it made the fox demon nearly tremble with suppressed rage. “So deadly,” he finished quietly and turned away from them, making Sasuke’s guard drop slightly and Naruto’s fingers uncurl from his palms, which were now trickling blood from the pierce of his claws.  
  
The Devil raised his head, tucked his hair away behind his ear. ”My cherished retrievers,” he cooed.  
  
He spoke the truth. Sasuke and Naruto were the most the powerful demons he had at his disposal. There were no others who could match their strength, no others who had been as successful in their assignments as these two treasures in his presence right now. He turned his eyes over his shoulder, spidery crinkles pulling at their corners. “Tell me, Naruto.” The Lord turned and touched his hand to Naruto’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb. “How many souls have you gathered for me?”  
  
The growl that emanated from Sasuke took even him by surprise. But from the way Naruto’s crimson eyes dropped at the words, the way his ears flattened and his body shrank in on itself as if shying away from that disgusting hand on his face… Sasuke was not so sure he would have wanted to stifle the sound anyway. He watched through a narrowed gaze as Naruto’s mouth opened, closed, and opened again.  
  
“I’ve lost count,” the fox mumbled.  
  
The Devil hummed and ran his fingers through Naruto’s hair before gripping it and turning to Sasuke. “And you, Sasuke?” He tugged Naruto by the hair, forcing out a reflexive snarl from the creature. “More than him?” His grin tilted further. “It escapes me.”  
  
 _The hell it “escapes you.”_ Sasuke did not take well to being toyed with. The Devil knew damn well that he forgot nothing; he knew every soul that fell into his bloodless hands by name, by touch, by sight.  
  
Sasuke’s eyes were glued to the hand in Naruto’s hair as he answered, his own fingers itching to tear it off. “It’s difficult to say,” he muttered. “The number shifts often.”  
  
The Lord’s smile fell away. “Hm…“ He let go of Naruto, stepping back. “And between the two of you?”  
  
Naruto rubbed at the abused spot on his head, frowning deeply and not looking the Devil in the eye. “It’s…”  
  
But Naruto trailed off, so Sasuke quickly picked up for him, “Impressive.”  
  
The Devil had torn a lock of hair from the walls of his chambers, and was now weaving it around his fingers thoughtfully. He looked up at his servants, any traces of amusement wiped clean off his ghostly face. “There is a Demi whose time is nearly done.”  
  
Naruto and Sasuke both started in surprise.  
  
A Demi’s soul was a rare and valued commodity. They were fallen angels who had been cast from heaven and given a chance to redeem themselves by living on Earth. The cost of course being, their soul became just as much a gamble as any mortal’s, it no longer was tied to Heaven, and so became anyone’s for the taking.  
  
The strands of hair were crushed in a pale hand. “I want him,” the Devil breathed out. He spun around suddenly, his cloak falling away and catching at his elbows, revealing his chest. The demons’ gazes were both drawn to the gaping hole that replaced where his heart should be. They watched uneasily as a large, purple snake slipped out of the opening, hissing as it leisurely wound itself around the Devil’s throat.  
  
The Lord chuckled throatily, a sound so unpleasant it caused Naruto’s ears to drop again. “Squeezing one of Her little angel’s souls in between my fingers,” he brought his hands up and stared down at them with a sinister grin. “It’s such a delicious feeling.” He curled his fingers and ran an abnormally long tongue over his lips, though it did nothing to moisten them. “Almost as luscious as the clean soul of a child.”  
  
Sasuke released a heavy breath as he watched Naruto attempt to mask his cringe. He hated seeing Naruto like this, and he knew the longer they remained here the more and more uncomfortable Naruto became, the harder it was to shove down his instinctual reactions that stemmed from his distaste for their Lord.  
  
“It tears Her heart to pieces.”  
  
Sasuke’s attention snapped away from Naruto as the Devil swept a hand over them, the snake threading through the hole in his chest. “You are my most successful retrievers. You will both go, and bring it to me.”  
  
Naruto’s tails lay sprawled and limp against the ground, his head dipping in an almost indiscernible nod that shadowed his eyes under the blond fringe of his bangs.  
  
Sasuke stared solemnly at the fox and suddenly licked his lips. “If I may speak…” He smiled when Naruto looked up at him. “I don’t understand, for such an important assignment, why I have to be paired with this idiot who will only slow-“  
  
And just like that, Naruto sprung back to life, as violent and quickly as the trigger of a gun. “Fuck you! I don’t need this bastard! I can do it on my own and I–“  
  
“Silence!” The Devil’s voice rumbled through the room, stilling them both. “Enough of your damn quarreling, I care not what you think or what you want. Kakashi has informed me that She will be sending her own prized collector, so you will both go and you will both fight for it. If you must die in the process, so be it.” He suddenly grabbed the snake and yanked it out of his chest. It squirmed and hissed frantically as he held it up in front of them, crushing the animal. “And if you do not wish for me to strip you of everything I have given, then you best not fail me.” There was a squelch and abrupt silence, save for the sickening splatter of blood on all three of them as the snake was dropped from the Devil’s hand and thumped on the ground in two separate strands of flesh.  
  
“ _Bring me that soul_.”  
  


* * *

 

  
With one fell swoop of his hand, Sasuke closed the seam that separated this world from theirs. He glared at Naruto beside him, whose eyes were wandering over the small area they were confined in.  
  
Their Lord had torn open the seam himself, instructing that the Demi was ill, dying in a hospital bed, and that they were to find him and claim his soul the very moment he drew his last breath.  
  
Naruto brushed his claws down the wooden handle of a mop that was leaning against the wall. They were apparently in some sort of closet; his tails were flitting hysterically, not used to such a cramped space, and Sasuke was growling and batting them away from his face. “Idiot!” he whispered harshly. “Hurry up and change before you break something and call attention!” As he said this, one of his wings brushed against a shelf and knocked over something that shattered onto the floor.  
  
Naruto laughed at him before grinning and purposely brushing Sasuke’s nose with a furry tip. He snarled when Sasuke caught it and tugged at it with a scowl. “I swear I’ll rip it off.”  
  
Sasuke sighed heavily when Naruto stuck a tongue out at him and threw the fox’s tail to his side, then closed his eyes in concentration. Naruto’s attention was stuck on the demon as Sasuke’s long hair slowly became shorter, the ashy strands bleeding away to the color of ink as they framed Sasuke’s face with two long bangs that reached his chin. His wings shrank, melding into his back, and his skin began to pale as his claws retracted to blunt fingernails. Naruto was fascinated by the whole scene, never having seen Sasuke’s human form before. His breath caught when Sasuke opened his eyes, his golden irises gone and replaced with a deep onyx. They narrowed at Naruto, and Sasuke’s hands clenched at both sides of his nude, human body. “Go on,” he snapped under his breath.  
  
In a beat, Sasuke found his face and chest smashed against the wall, sandwiched between it and Naruto’s warm, warm body. His cheek was pressed into the cool surface, and he chided himself for being stupid enough to change while Naruto still retained his natural state, much stronger than Sasuke’s human one. He grit his teeth as Naruto’s hands threaded curiously through Sasuke’s hair, his clawed fingertips dragging down Sasuke’s throat, his arms, leaving black trails in their wake. A gruff sigh spilled in a burst of heat over Sasuke’s ear as Naruto’s hands caressed his taut stomach, his awakening length rubbing with need between the cheeks of Sasuke’s ass.  
  
Before it could go any farther, Sasuke quickly reached behind and yanked one of Naruto’s long ears, forcing Naruto to bite down on his tongue to hold back a yelp. Sasuke snorted and simply yanked it again, hissing when Naruto’s claws bit into him from the pain. “I’ve told you to stop this,” Sasuke seethed, and Naruto groaned into his ear as a response.  
  
When they fought, when they had sex, it had always and _only_ ever been for show. They were the gold of their kind, models to be idolized and followed by all other demons. Anything they did to one another was to be done in front of a crowd; it was a demonstration of power, nothing more.  
  
But lately and more often than not, Naruto had begun initiating touches that were clearly not filled with the intent to dominate Sasuke. Naruto would hush against Sasuke’s skin, be so unnaturally quiet that Sasuke had to strain to hear him, all so they would _not_ attract attention themselves.  
  
Naruto pushed at the back of Sasuke’s head, grinding desperately against him as Sasuke regretfully ground back, keeping a firm and painful grip on Naruto’s ear. His tails were a flurry of movement behind them as they moved and Naruto pressed closer, panting against Sasuke’s cheek. “I don’t understand why you say no,” he growled out in one long breath. He grabbed Sasuke’s shoulders, piercing the skin with his nails, drawing trickles of black blood. “Why is it so bad that we want to do it away from them?”  
  
Sasuke let out a frustrated snarl and elbowed Naruto in the stomach. “Because that’s not how it works, fucking idiot!” he rasped. Naruto grunted and slowed in his thrusts but did not let go, did not stop moving, and neither did Sasuke.  
  
Fucking each other in front of the crowd was an exhilarating feeling, something thrilling and alive that sang along their veins. But neither of them knew why behaving this way alone made them feel the same – no, better, it was a _full_ feeling that buzzed on their skin and boiled in their blood. But unlike Naruto, who welcomed the foreign and downright _unnatural_ reaction, Sasuke feared it. What did it mean when sex was had for pleasure of each other, instead of power over one another? He didn’t know, Naruto didn’t know, but they were both aware that it was unheard of; it was unacceptable in the world where they were from.  
  
Sasuke snarled and turned his head, biting down mercilessly on Naruto’s ear as he came, spurts of white staining the wall before him.  
  
Naruto let out a choked, pained moan and pushed harshly against Sasuke, until his chest was crushed against the wall, and Sasuke felt the hot trickle of cum on his back before he finally gathered the strength to shove a sated Naruto off his body. The fox stumbled and slammed against the door, his tails flying out and knocking several items off the shelves so they clattered on the floor.  
  
Naruto was heaving. He slowly stood back up and pinned Sasuke with a harsh and questioning glare. “But _why_?”  
  
Sasuke’s pants came in short and heavy, thin trails of blood leaking down his arms and dripping from his fingertips drop by drop. He shot Naruto a glower.  
  
How was he supposed to answer such a question? How should he know why they were denied to feel such an overwhelming emotion? All he knew was what was accepted, and that they would be severely punished for straying from the norm. “I don’t know,” he muttered irritably. There were a few moments of tense silence, shattered when Sasuke kicked an empty paint can across the floor in pure frustration and demanded that Naruto hurry up and change.  
  
He watched Naruto intently as the demon’s tails and ears both glowed a bright red before vanishing. The six whiskers on his face faded away as his crimson eyes brightened to a startling blue and grew wide and vivid, his shaggy hair shortening to wild blond spikes.  
  
Naruto felt his stomach plunge as Sasuke turned away from him, mumbling something about finding clothes, already dismissing what had occurred in favor of fulfilling their task.  
  


* * *

 

  
A pair of old, green scrubs that were visibly too small on both of them was the best thing Sasuke could find. It was uncomfortable, not only because the clothes were too small but simply because they were not _used_ to wearing clothes. However, it did allow them to walk down the hallways without being questioned, at most they’d only drawn a curious glance or two, and this was advantageous, because they had to search for the Demi the old fashioned way. Wandering around until one of them caught the pulse of his soul, a slightly stronger sensation than mortal souls.  
  
Naruto kept scratching at every bit of his body, grunting and complaining to Sasuke. “Why the fuck would anyone want to cover their bodies like this? It’s fucking suffocating! I feel like – ah!“  
  
Sasuke had gripped him by the back of his neck, jerking him in and causing Naruto to fumble over his feet. “Shut up, Naruto, and focus on the goddamn assignment!” he whispered, shoving Naruto away and walking ahead of him.  
  
Naruto growled and kicked his leg up, mock-kicking Sasuke’s back as he turned away from him and crossed his arms.  
  
He found himself looking through the glass doors of a waiting room. It was already late at night, so there were only two men sitting inside, one reading a newspaper and the other watching the television, though not seeming too absorbed in what he was looking at. Naruto’s eyes settled onto the large screen, only vaguely interested in watching as a small blonde woman yelled passionately into a man’s face.  
  
His nose wrinkled when the woman’s hand slashed out in anger and the man responded by grabbing her shoulders and tugging her in, staring intently down at her. Then suddenly, the man dropped his mouth down onto hers and pressed tightly against her.  
  
Naruto’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. “What the fuck?” he muttered, leaning up against the window, placing his fingertips on it and curling his lip in confusion as the man pulled away only to have the woman bring him back down again in a press of mouths. He watched their lips move fervently over each other, and it made this warm tingle in the pit of his gut. He pressed his face closer to the glass, desperate to know what was happening here, why the woman’s eyes closed as the man’s fingers tangled into her hair. Naruto had his whole body pressed to the glass now, looking absolutely dumbfounded and far more than just a little intrigued. “What the fuck are they _doing_?”  
  
“What the fuck are you doing?”  
  
Naruto jumped back, barely registering the voice as Sasuke’s before a painful smack was landed on his head. “Fucking moron,” Sasuke hissed. “I knew you were only going to slow me down!”  
  
“Sasuke, wait! Look! Look at those humans!”  
  
But Sasuke ignored him, grabbing Naruto by the scruff of his collar and dragging him away from the glass window as Naruto continued sputtering in both confusion and awe.  
  


* * *

 

  
“What do you think they were doing?” Naruto asked, the excitement bright and lively in his voice.  
  
Sasuke ground his teeth, becoming increasingly annoyed. “Hn…”  
  
“I mean,” Naruto touched his fingertips to his lips as he walked beside Sasuke, his blue eyes becoming clouded as he recalled what he’d seen. “Their mouths? Why? And their eyes closed too! Like when we’re fucking, you know?”  
  
“Naruto – “  
  
“But it can’t feel like that, right? So why would they do that? Have you ever seen it before, Sasuke? What do you think it feels like?”  
  
“I don’t _know_ , Naruto.”  
  
Naruto’s mouth was going a mile a minute, Sasuke wasn’t even sure Naruto was aware of the questions he was asking. “I think it would feel good! Do you think we should try it, Sasuke? Would we get in trouble? It’s not normal, is it? At least not for-“  
  
An exasperated Sasuke had suddenly grabbed Naruto by his throat and shoved him into a niche that was carved into the wall of the dimly lit hallway. Naruto coughed and grabbed Sasuke’s wrist, matching the other demon’s glower. “All right! Damn, sorry!”  
  
“Why do you assume I have the answers to all these fucking questions, huh?” Sasuke bit, holding a steady gaze on Naruto.  
  
Naruto frowned at him, fingers tightly wound around Sasuke’s wrist. “I just…”  
  
Sasuke growled and looked around; making sure no one was there before he shoved his free hand beneath the waistband of Naruto’s pants. He earned a soft moan as he wrapped his fingers around the demon’s soft shaft, tightening his hold on his throat and making him cough. “Do I look like God to you, Naruto? Do you see any huge breasts on me that hold all the goddamn answers?” He pressed closer, moving his fingers over Naruto’s perineum and stroking the middle one against his anus.  
  
Naruto’s hands grasped at Sasuke’s arms, his blunt nails dragging down the dried blood trails that tracked down the creamy skin as he continue to stare into Sasuke’s black eyes.  
  
Sasuke snorted and shoved his middle finger halfway inside the dry hole, making Naruto gasp loudly at the pain. “Or maybe you’ve somehow confused me with the Devil instead,” he muttered dryly. He watched Naruto’s eyes darken as he tried to shake his head.  
  
“Never,” Naruto whispered.  
  
They glared at each other, Naruto’s breath hitching now and again as Sasuke’s finger dipped in and out of him. Sasuke dared not blink as he realized he was studying Naruto’s face, watching the way his mouth worked around his breaths, the crinkle of skin where his brows met in a tight knit and his eyes heady with lust and focused on nothing but Sasuke in front of him. Suddenly, Naruto’s lips tilted into a wide grin.  
  
Sasuke paused. His hand released Naruto’s throat, slamming against the wall beside his head as he rammed his finger all the way inside, making Naruto hiss between his teeth and yank Sasuke closer as he bowed into him, still smiling. “What the fuck are you grinning about?”  
  
“Didn’t you notice?” Naruto chuckled, his voice a tad hoarse but it didn’t take away from the brilliance on his lips. “You checked to see that no one was watching.”  
  
Sasuke started slightly, his eyes widening the tiniest fraction before he wiped the surprise off his face and pulled his hand out of Naruto’s pants, stepping away from him. “It’s different here,” he grumbled.  
  


* * *

 

  
Naruto stopped walking, not so much from his own choice as from the nagging tug of the door beside him. He looked up, reading the numbers 224 on the metal slot. “Sasuke,” he whispered.  
  
“I know, I feel it too.” Sasuke pushed past him and opened the door. Naruto cringed as the hinges groaned and followed Sasuke inside the small, dark room, a square of milky moonlight falling in from the window and lighting the bottom half of the hospital bed.  
  
Sasuke smirked as he felt the steady pulse of the Demi’s soul beat upon his skin and led Naruto to the side of the bed.  
  
Assuming the Demi had been asleep, they were both startled when piercing jade eyes pinned them through the dark. “Get out,” the Demi ordered in a firm whisper, his red hair a staggering contrast to the crisp, white sheets of the bed. His eyes were outlined in dark bruises, revealing that he slept very little, if at all, and his hands were clenched into fists on his lap as he glared at the demons.  
  
“Hm,” Naruto mused, leaning down to the Demi’s face. “Sure don’t _look_ like you’re dyin’.” He grinned and circled his finger over the dark ring around a green eye. “Cept’ maybe these.”  
  
The Demi snarled and lurched forward, viciously grabbing Naruto’s wrist. But just as quickly, his hand fell away, grasping the bed sheets as his other hand came up over his mouth and he began coughing violently.  
  
Naruto blinked down at him and frowned when the Demi pulled his hand away, drenched in blood. “Never mind,” he said.  
  
Sasuke was looking at the clipboard hanging off the foot of the bed, blatantly ignoring the coughing fit. His eyes flicked up and he put the clipboard back down. “Gaara,” he called, having read that that was the name the Demi was called by. “Apparently, you’ve been expecting us.”  
  
Gaara coughed again, a thick trail of dark, red blood leaking down his chin. When he spoke, his voice was wet and hoarse, “You can’t have it.”  
  
Sasuke snorted and walked around the bed, crossing his arms and looking down at Gaara. “You say that as if you have any role in the matter.”  
  
Naruto was still staring solemnly at the fallen angel, his blue eyes falling to the blood-stained sheets.  
  
Gaara shifted on the bed, his forehead scrunching in pain as his arm came across his stomach. “He has no claim–“  
  
“And neither does She,” Sasuke quickly reminded him. “You know just as well as us that we all have as much claim over it as the air we breathe.” His fingers wrapped around the guard railing as he leaned down and whispered, “None. Just like air,” his hand suddenly shot out, gripping Gaara’s throat so the Demi choked and coughed blood onto Sasuke’s wrist. “It’s ours for the taking.”  
  
Naruto watched Gaara hack up globs of blood and saliva, and without thinking, his hand shot out to Sasuke’s. “Sasuke, c’mon!” he pleaded, flinching when Sasuke’s head snapped to him and he threw Gaara aside. He stared at Naruto with a disapproving scowl, but Naruto avoided his gaze. “You know it’s not… our place, to take him early,” he muttered.  
  
Sasuke snorted and opened his mouth to retort, but Gaara wiped the sheets over his face and beat him to it, a hint of a smirk on his lips. “Are you sure that kitten over there… feels the same way you do?”  
  
Naruto’s eyes narrowed dangerously. He took a step towards the heaving man on the bed, his mouth curled in a sneer. “I sure as hell,” he pointed to Sasuke behind him. “Hope that you were referring to that bastard.”  
  
Gaara stared at him with unblinking eyes, and Naruto, being this close, realized how thin the Demi was, how his cheeks sunk in and his whole body seemed like a hollow shell. Just about ready to give up. Ready to let go. His attention was snatched back when he realized Gaara was talking to him.  
  
“You’re far too soft-hearted,” he said. He filled Naruto’s vision, until Naruto was assaulted by the scent of blood on his breath, and the illness that weighed down his words, “I can see it in your eyes.”  
  
Something snapped inside Naruto and Sasuke quirked a brow as the demon’s s fingers shot out and caged Gaara’s forehead, forcing him down on the bed. The muscles in Naruto’s arms bulged and strained as he squeezed Gaara’s head. There were visible black tracks of blood that pulsed through the veins beneath Naruto's skin as Gaara’s body began to convulse and his eyes rolled back, slivers of white visible between Naruto’s large fingers.  
  
A shine of golden light burst through Gaara’s mouth and the corners of his eyes, and Naruto could feel it, the throb of the Demi’s soul beating at the very tips of his fingers. “Soft-hearted, am I?” he ground out between gritted teeth as his irises bled away from their blue hue to a deep crimson.  
  
“That’s enough, Naruto.” Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto’s shoulder and the demon gasped, his eyes reverting back to a bright, clear blue, as if snapped out of trance. The air went dead silent as Naruto’s hand wrenched off of Gaara, the bed creaking twice as the Demi collapsed on top of it, fighting for gulps of air.  
  
Naruto shrugged Sasuke’s hand off his shoulder and tried to shove him away but Sasuke caught his wrist in the air and glared at him. “Like you said,” he murmured. “We’re not here to kill him.” He released Naruto when the demon snatched his hand back; clenching it at his side as his nostrils flared and he tilted his head up, staring down at Gaara.  
  
“It’s already trying to escape,” Naruto said. “It was practically _begging_ for my hand.” He waved a dismissive hand at the Demi as he turned and headed for the door. “You’re not going to live past tomorrow.”  
  
Gaara glowered at Sasuke’s lazy smirk. He followed behind Naruto and spoke to Gaara over his shoulder, “See you then.”  
  


* * *

 

  
The scrubs had been crumpled up and tossed to a corner of the dark room. Naruto stretched leisurely, loving the feel of not having to constrain his body in fucking pointless clothing. He sighed and flexed his hand, which had thin, black rivulets of blood leaking from his knuckles.  
  
They’d decided to spend the night in an old abandoned warehouse they’d found not too far off from the hospital. Their human forms not being strong enough to break off the locks on the doors, Naruto had spent several minutes punching his way through a large side window instead. He and Sasuke had climbed inside and immediately ripped off their clothes, reverting to their natural demon forms as they did so.  
  
The room they’d broken into was empty, save for a white tarp bunched up on the wooden floorboards and a large, brown chest placed against one of the walls. It was caked with dust, and the whole room smelled musty and worn down. There were dust particles floating lazily through the shaft of moonlight spearing in through the broken window.  
  
Naruto absently picked out the shards of glass that had embedded into his hand, his tails swaying behind him lazily. Sasuke was vaguely watching him from the other side of the room, sitting against the wall with his legs drawn up and his arms resting on his knees. His wings were limp, the fingers curled in slightly as they lay still behind him.  
  
A grey rat skittered out from a hole in the wall, scurrying over to Sasuke and scratching around the floor beside his leg. Both demons ignored the small creature, not even casting it a glance.  
  
“Who‘s She gonna send?” Naruto asked quietly as he dropped onto the floor and examined his hand to make sure he didn’t miss any shards.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Again with your fucking questions?” He’d expected Naruto to snap back at him, so he couldn’t help the frown that tugged at his mouth when Naruto simply shrugged and looked blankly out the window. Sasuke sighed, the black mark between his eyes crinkling as his brows knitted. “I don’t know, but we should get there before them to avoid a fight.”  
  
“And why shouldn’t we fight?” Naruto countered hastily, almost angrily. His eyes locked on Sasuke as a clawed hand gripped at his own hair. “That’s what we were sent here for anyway, right? He said it didn’t matter if we died.”  
  
“That it didn’t matter, not that it was a necessity, Naruto,” Sasuke retaliated, softer than Naruto but still firm.  
  
“You bastard!” Naruto shouted, grabbing one of the shirts off the floor and throwing it at Sasuke, who smacked the garment away mid-air. Naruto got on his hands and knees, snarling at Sasuke. “You agree with that little shit, don’t you?!”  
  
“Of course I agree with him, idiot!” Sasuke shouted back. “Because it’s true!”  
  
Naruto shot up from the floor, storming over to Sasuke with heavy breaths. “I’ve gathered just as many souls as you, if not more! We’re _both_ the highest ranking demons and you have the balls to tell me –“  
  
“The truth,” Sasuke interjected. He closed his eyes and leaned his temple against his fingertips. “You do it because it’s your job Naruto, and you do it well, it’s true.” He opened his eyes, golden irises pinning Naruto where he stood. “But that’s all.”  
  
Naruto’s fangs were bared in a sneer. The only appropriate answer he could think of burst out of his mouth, “Fuck you!”  
  
Sasuke glared at him, and in a blur, snatched up the rat by his feet. The rodent squealed and squirmed helplessly as Sasuke stood up and shoved it into Naruto’s hand. “Kill it,” he ordered.  
  
Naruto flinched and looked down at the rat. He snorted and shoved Sasuke back slightly with his other hand, growling under his breath. Naruto squeezed the rat, staring at it intently, watching as it struggled with every bit of strength it could muster – honestly believing it had a chance to break free.  
  
Naruto took his bottom lip between his teeth as he felt the brush of a strong tail against his arm. He stroked his thumb over the animal’s soft belly, the tip of his claw making a light cut that stained its fur red and caused it to squeak in pain.  
  
Naruto stared at it for a few more moments, and then sighed heavily. His fingers uncurled slowly and the rat _thumped_ on the ground, quickly scampering away back through the hole it came out of. “I can’t,” he muttered.  
  
Sasuke’s eyes stayed on him and he remained quiet after the grunt admission. Then, an annoyed breath slowly escaped through his nostrils and he lightly pushed the fox demon’s head aside, making him growl quietly. “Idiot,” he groaned. “Do you think I’ve never seen the way you cringe when He gives you your assignments? Or how you curl into yourself like a little dog with its tail between its legs when He touches you?”  
  
“Shut up!” Naruto shouted, shoving Sasuke against the wall and pinning him there by his wings. Sasuke allowed him to, almost too easily, as he continued to glower at Naruto and crossed his dark, sculpted arms over his chest.  
  
“No one knows your sentimental idiocy better than me, apparently, not even yourself.” Sasuke opened his mouth, pausing for a moment, as if he were hesitant to speak his next words. So he said them quietly, slowly, smooth and sinister as everything Sasuke was. “It isn’t the first time I’ve questioned, Naruto,” Sasuke uncrossed his arms, pressing the tips of his claws into Naruto’s chest, denting into his flesh, “Whether fate had been mistaken making you a demon.”  
  
Naruto stared back at Sasuke’s unblinking eyes, his breath coming in long, angry hisses between clenched teeth as his own eyes began to flicker warily over Sasuke’s face, searching for what, he wasn’t quite sure.  
  
He knew Sasuke well enough to understand that this time he was not _trying_ to be cruel; he was asserting something that Naruto had already known but had vainly tried to stomp down throughout his whole life. He didn’t take people’s souls and put them into the very hands of eternal misery simply because he was told to do so, Naruto knew in his heart of hearts that he did it to prove to himself that he could. He would not bat an eye when he snatched the life of a murderer, a rapist; someone who he felt deserved to be dragged down to Hell. But Naruto could never seem to come over the twist in his gut or the skip in his heart as he – almost apologetically – slowly pulled out the pure soul of a child and felt it thrum like a hummingbird against his palm, or the soft warmth that tickled over his fingertips from drawing out the life of a dying mother whose time had come.  
  
Naruto’s gaze fixed on the black, cross-like mark on Sasuke’s face, right between his eyes, before it fell down to the purple hue of his mouth, curved and shaped like the bow of an archer. It fell lower still, following over every scar, cut, and bruise that he had inflicted upon Sasuke’s body again and again over the countless years they’d known each other. He could no longer even remember his life before Sasuke was a part of it.  
  
It was true what Sasuke had said, that no one knew Naruto like he did, just as Naruto knew Sasuke better than anyone else. And there was something to be said in the fact that Sasuke was aware of this deeply hidden, deeply _intimate_ side of Naruto, and kept it to himself. Especially since it was an aspect of Naruto that could very well get him killed if the Devil, or any lesser demons for that fact, found out about it. Especially since, if Naruto were to be killed, there would be no competition against Sasuke.  
  
Naruto briefly recalled the moment where Sasuke goaded him into an argument while they were in the Devil’s chambers, and he realized now, that it had been an attempt on Sasuke’s part to break Naruto of the anxiousness being in the presence their Lord filled him with. Naruto’s eyes flicked back up to Sasuke’s and he grinned cheekily as he also remembered that Sasuke had gotten through to him as sharply as the cut of a blade.  
  
Sasuke snorted and curled his lip. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he snapped. “That grin better be because you’ve accepted that you’re a tender little fool.”  
  
Naruto gave a little irritated grunt, but his lips remained stretched across his face as his hand moved away from Sasuke’s wing. It dragged over his shoulder and lay flat over his chest, where he could feel the strong beat of his heart. “You’re a bastard,” he husked and slashed his claws down the taut flesh, tearing out a startled and pained gasp from Sasuke as three black gashes leaked blood in thick rivulets.  
  
The only split-second warning was a menacing snarl before Sasuke grabbed the grinning fox by this throat and hauled him off the floor with ease, Naruto’s tails swishing at the air behind him. Sasuke spun around and slammed Naruto back-first into the wall, his wings fanned out in an intimidating manner, blocking the moonlight so they were cloaked in shadows.  
  
Sasuke lowered Naruto slowly against the wall, baring his teeth when Naruto chuckled and quickly wound his legs around Sasuke’s naked waist, jerking him in so their hips crashed under strangled moans. He felt Naruto’s hand wriggle and snake down between their bodies, brushing beneath Sasuke’s balls until he began teasing his fingers between the cheeks of his ass. Sasuke growled and pressed closer, smearing the wet wound on his chest against Naruto’s, painting it black with his own blood. “You’re doing it again,” he hissed, his fingers gradually loosening around Naruto’s throat.  
  
Naruto leered at him; dipping the tip of his claw inside Sasuke and making him bite his tongue. “So stop me,” Naruto said, chuckling. “Stop me like you wanted to last time.” His breath hitched when Sasuke suddenly shoved a palm under Naruto’s chin, forcing his head up and back against the wall. Naruto felt the scratch of fangs drag down his throat, harder and harder until they finally broke through and his hands flew back up and tugged ruthlessly at Sasuke’s hair as blood droplets trickled down his neck.  
  
A primal growl rumbled from Naruto’s chest as he rocked his hips against Sasuke’s, and he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or moan when Sasuke reflexively rocked back into him, his fingers clutching at Naruto’s sides as hot puffs of air burst along his throat. He jerked Sasuke’s head back by the hold on his hair; the demon’s lips came away stained in black, and Naruto tightened his legs around him. The feel of Sasuke’s heartbeat, his warm blood smearing over their chests, drove Naruto into a frenzy. His eyes closed of their own accord as he thrust furiously against Sasuke, his muscles straining, and felt the shred of orgasm begin to ripple through his body.  
  
Naruto pressed his forehead against Sasuke’s throat, felt the raging throb of his pulse beat against it. His ears twitched in an effort to pinpoint the frantic huffs of their breath, to snatch every second where Sasuke’s pulse matched the beat of his own, experience those single moments, where they became one.  
  


* * *

 

  
Naruto awoke on the hardwood floor the next morning, a bar of sunlight glowing upon his face from the window. He snorted and rubbed his eye with a fist, yawning as his other hand scratched at his chest. He cringed when his nails scraped off dry blood.  
  
Naruto stretched and rolled onto his side, towards the window, and squinted up past the sunlight to see Sasuke standing beside it with his arms crossed, hidden in the shadows of the room and staring at something outside.  
  
As if sensing Naruto had woken up, Sasuke’s eyes suddenly flickered to him. He stared at the fox demon for a short moment before slowly allowing his gaze to settle back outside. “A kiss,” Sasuke said.  
  
Naruto quirked a brow and scratched at a spot behind a furry red ear. “What?” he grunted as he hopped up from the floor and took the few steps needed to get him next to Sasuke. “A what?”  
  
Sasuke tilted his head, a silent order for Naruto to look outside.  
  
Keeping against the darkness, Naruto pressed next to Sasuke and peeked out the window, his mouth falling open as he watched what he’d seen on the television yesterday replay right before his eyes.  
  
A man and a woman, their mouths pressed and eyes closed in something odd but glaringly passionate. Naruto was just as awestruck and confused by it as the first time. He titled his head and curled his upper lip at the couple.  
  
Sasuke was watching him and chuckled at the expression, causing Naruto’s attention to break and snap to him. “What is it called?” he asked again.  
  
“A ‘kiss’,” Sasuke answered, pushing off the wall. “She asked for one and then they did _that_.” He walked away from Naruto, who turned back to the humans, staring curiously at them. He sniffed when they pulled apart, smiling, and continued down the sidewalk hand in hand. Naruto turned back to Sasuke, one of his hands resting on the wall as his tails swayed lazily behind him. “I didn’t think you were paying attention yesterday,” he commented offhandedly.  
  
Sasuke sat down on the old chest and simply shrugged, which made Naruto chuckle. Sasuke had already proven quite thoroughly that if there was anything he paid subtle yet meticulous attention to, it was Naruto.  
  
Naruto grinned and moved towards Sasuke, illuminated by the warm bar of sunlight as he stepped through it before slipping into the cool shade beside Sasuke once more. “I wanna try it,” he demanded.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes, “Hn.”  
  
“Sasuke,” Naruto implored, pushing his hands against the demon’s dark shoulders.  
  
Sasuke watched Naruto get on his knees; felt his thumb trace over the scars he’d left over his heart last night, the simple touch bringing on such a strong and unexpected feeling of comfort that it actually backfired and made Sasuke’s stomach coil.  
  
He glared at Naruto.  
  
Sasuke knew nothing of the meaning of a kiss beyond its name, just as lost as Naruto. But from watching the humans, his calculating mind gathered that it was something… that conveyed warmth, intimacy, things that he had – countless times – told Naruto it was not natural for them to share. Sasuke felt the argument claw at the back of his throat, begging for release.  
  
He bit his tongue.  
  
Sasuke could argue his word all he liked; it wouldn’t change the fact that he’d already contradicted it on more than one occasion. It pissed him off that breaking all the goddamn rules, going against what was considered normal in their world, came so easily to Naruto. Sasuke had to wonder if the ease came paired with the fact that Naruto had never quite been so “normal” himself.  
  
His silence, to Naruto, seemed to have been taken as a lack of rejection rather than consent, as Naruto leaned up, paused, and hesitantly pushed his mouth against Sasuke’s.  
  
Naruto didn’t know what he had been expecting. When he watched the humans do it, they had seemed so filled by the act, the look on their faces akin to the pleasure he’d seen on Sasuke’s last night. There should have been some explosive, overwhelming feeling shredding through him, because that was how he felt during sex with Sasuke.  
  
But this was just… awkward.  
  
Sasuke’s eyes remained on Naruto’s as their mouths were pressed, not feeling anything particularly noteworthy. Naruto’s lips were chapped and he could feel the fox demon’s warm breath ghost over them from his nose.  
  
Naruto pulled back with a soft smacking noise. He licked his lips and frowned up at Sasuke. “That’s it?” he asked, clearly disappointed.  
  
Sasuke snorted and knocked Naruto’s arms off of him. “It didn’t look like anything spectacular, why would you expect it to be?”  
  
Naruto’s ears slowly lowered, his tails sprawled behind him across the floor as his brow furrowed. It _had_ looked like something spectacular to him, and he was severely frustrated that it wasn’t.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the morose expression. He lifted a hand, though it paused mid-air when he realized he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do with it. Naruto might be able to shift from deadly to sickeningly gentle in the blink of an eye, but it was difficult for Sasuke; it was not in his nature.  
  
So Sasuke exhaled heavily as he slowly slid to the floor and placed his lips at Naruto’s shoulder. He bit down harshly, making Naruto gasp as he laced his arms around the demon and dragged his claws up Naruto’s back with long, harsh trails, comforting him the only way he knew how.  
  
It was barely a few minutes before they had fallen back into habit. Snarling and clawing and panting against each other not just in a struggle to breathe, but to breathe in every huff of air the other breathed out.  
  
Naruto grunted and slammed Sasuke back-first against the floor, only to have Sasuke’s leg fly up and bang against his side so they rolled over. Sasuke grabbed one of Naruto’s writs and forced it to the floor as his erection slapped against Naruto’s thigh. He lost his chance to grab Naruto’s other wrist when Naruto yanked mercilessly at Sasuke’s hair and forced him back into their initial position.  
  
Naruto’s tails frenzied over them as he hastily pinned Sasuke’s thighs under his own and grabbed his wrists with both hands. Sasuke arched, his wings pushing against the ground as Naruto locked the demon’s wrists in the circle of one large hand and forced them down against Sasuke’s rigid stomach, pushing them down against his shaft and making him hiss.  
  
Naruto was breathing harshly, his body bent sinuously as he rolled one of Sasuke’s nipples between his teeth and used his free hand to jerk Sasuke’s leg from under his thigh and push it up against his chest.  
  
Sasuke tensed up and ground his teeth as Naruto pushed his way inside. It didn’t matter how many times they did it, or whether it was alone or in the presence of a crowd, the pain and the pleasure tearing through the demon’s body never dimmed and it never wavered. It was always good, and as he recently accepted, always right.  
  
Naruto watched Sasuke’s head thrash as he repeatedly slid out and rammed back in, the ashy strands of his hair fanned out on the floor. He narrowed red eyes as Sasuke pushed back against him and took Naruto in balls deep, making both of them shout in pleasure.  
  
Naruto suddenly dropped his head against Sasuke’s chest, and his fingers loosened around his wrists as he lost himself in Sasuke’s overwhelming heat.  
  
In a flash, Sasuke had grabbed Naruto by his hair and jerked him to the side, failing to bite down a painful yelp as Naruto was forcibly ripped out of him.  
  
They scrambled over each other on the floor, bloody and shining with sweat until Sasuke had caught a firm grip on Naruto’s waist and forced Naruto onto his lap. There was little resistance before Naruto simply tangled his fingers into Sasuke’s hair and gripped it ruthlessly as he sank his fangs into Sasuke’s throat and drew out trickles of blood.  
  
Sasuke’s claws pierced into Naruto’s skin as he spread the demon’s ass and shoved his way inside, feeling the stab of Naruto’s teeth run deeper at the shock of welcomed pain. His wings wrapped around them, trapping Naruto’s tails between themselves and Naruto’s body as Naruto himself was forced flush against Sasuke.  
  
Naruto’s ears were pressed down; crimson eyes pinched shut as he lowered his arms over Sasuke’s shoulders and down Sasuke’s back, digging his nails into flesh he claimed as his and grunting quietly at each thrust Sasuke rocked into his body.  
  
There was something pouring over in the frantic beats of their hearts as Sasuke’s wings tightened so desperately around them, his arms encircling Naruto’s waist in such a strong hold, that Naruto felt he just might break in two. He couldn’t stop the tongue he dragged up Sasuke’s throat or the whisper of his name as Sasuke trembled and peaked, filling Naruto with every ounce of emotion he could not bring past his lips.

* * *

 

They were back in their scrubs, back at the hospital, and back to their assignment, their bodies littered with bite marks and scratches and a few still wet wounds, evidence of what had been put aside for now but not forgotten.  
  
Sasuke pushed open the door to 224, and then stopped dead in his tracks, causing Naruto to bump into him from behind.  
  
There was a nurse – a petite woman with short, black hair – folding up the blankets on the bed. She had changed the bloody sheets from last night, replacing them so the bed was crisp, stark white… and empty.  
  
She still hadn’t noticed the demons as she gathered up the soiled sheets she’d tossed onto a chair in the corner. She turned around; the linens bundled in her arms, and cried out softly in surprise when she finally saw them. “May I help you?” she fumbled out.  
  
Naruto shoved past Sasuke. “There was a guy here, with red hair, where is he?”  
  
The woman’s eyes narrowed sadly as she pulled the sheets closer against her chest. “Mr. Sabaku somehow got out last night, we’re not sure where he went but we’re looking for him. If you see him, you can – “  
  
“Shit!” Naruto hollered, snapping to Sasuke. “That little fucker ran off! How the hell are we supposed to –“  
  
“Quiet, Naruto!” Sasuke hissed, eyeing the woman. “You have no idea where he went?”  
  
“No, I…” She trailed off as her gaze flickered over the pair. “I’m sorry but, do you two work here? I don’t recognize…” She suddenly reached out and touched Naruto’s arm, making him flinch away from her fingers. “And you’re all cut up and bruised. Should I page a doctor?”  
  
“No,” Sasuke quipped, grabbing Naruto’s arm and storming out the door, leaving the woman in the middle of the room with confusion scrawled across her face.  
  


* * *

 

  
Sasuke and Naruto hurried down the sidewalk, barely suppressing the urge to rip of out of their human forms as they blindly searched for the Demi.  
  
“Damn it!” Naruto shouted and punched the side of a building in pure frustration. It was already late afternoon, the sun bleeding red into the sky. “We’re never gonna find him, this fucking city is huge!”  
  
Sasuke swiped a hand over Naruto to quiet him as a car flew past them down the street. “He can’t have gotten far, he’s ill,” he muttered.  
  
Naruto threw his arms up and clapped his hands over his face. “We don’t even know if he’s alive!” His arm shot out in exasperation. “That fucking angel could have gotten to him already and we don’t have a goddamn clue!”  
  
Sasuke sighed and suddenly grasped Naruto’s wrist. “I have an idea.” He lifted Naruto’s hand, squinting at his palm. “It’s just a theory though.”  
  
Naruto’s free arm began flailing around, wild and desperate. “Theory?! We don’t have time for that bullshit, Sasuke!” He grunted when Sasuke squeezed and jerked Naruto’s wrist.  
  
“Be quiet, fucking idiot.” Sasuke twisted Naruto’s wrist and Naruto snarled at him for it, but Sasuke ignored him and continued to speak, “Try to find him.”  
  
“But-“  
  
“Just do it, Naruto,” Sasuke hissed between his teeth.  
  
Naruto huffed and growled at Sasuke before slowly allowing his lids to close over blue eyes.  
  
Naruto concentrated, the delicate throb of human souls pattering along his skin as he sought out the pull of Gaara’s. Then suddenly, Naruto cringed as he felt his energy slowly begin to ebb away, a sensation like the prick of a million needles flowing down his arm and slipping out of him where Sasuke held his wrist.  
  
Eyes still closed, Naruto’s free arm groped blindly for Sasuke until his hand fell heavily on the demon’s shoulder. He squeezed it urgently as his knees began to quake, feeling weaker and weaker, but still allowing Sasuke to hold him, still trusting him. “What,” he whispered.  
  
And then, Naruto got his response.  
  
His wrist and Sasuke’s palm, where their skin touched, began to pulsate, faster and faster until there was a burst of energy spearing up Naruto’s arm and shredding through every nerve of his body. There was a single, blinding moment of pain where both he and Sasuke gasped out loud and Naruto’s fingers reflexively gripped around Sasuke’s wrist as well.  
  
Then the pain subsided, and Naruto was so overwhelmed with a flood of new senses that were Sasuke not holding so tightly onto his wrist, he would have staggered backward. He was astounded by the sudden clarity of every single soul he could feel, separating from a collective throb into thousands of lone beats. The sheer amount had exploded in itself; Naruto felt like his ears had been unclogged, and everything had become closer, stronger, lucid.  
  
As if they had rehearsed it a million times before, Naruto and Sasuke both stiffened as the Demi’s soul rippled through and out of them.  
  
He was not far at all.  
  
Sasuke was first to shake off Naruto’s hand, who let go reluctantly before flexing his fingers and looking up at Sasuke. “What was that?” he questioned.  
  
Sasuke snorted and traced his fingertips over his wrist. “Searching one on one was pointless.” Cool onyx eyes flicked up to Naruto. “Searching together is another matter entirely.”  
  
“But how did you know?” Naruto asked, amazed.  
  
Sasuke chuckled and shrugged. “I didn’t. Let’s go.” He flinched as Naruto suddenly ran past him, and a slow smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he quickly followed behind.

* * *

They found Gaara in a long alleyway, resting on shaky legs against the brick-wall of one of the buildings and fighting for breath, the front of his hospital gown and his chin drenched in blood.

  
Naruto clicked his tongue and stepped towards him, pausing when the Demi suddenly stumbled back and released his wings, brown and soft and feathery, like those of an eagle. “You’ve caused us a lot more trouble than you’re worth,” Naruto ground out, tearing off his clothes and ripping the fabric to shreds as his tails sprouted and his eyes darkened to their natural red. He tossed the clothes onto the garbage littered floor and moved closer to Gaara, sneering at him when the Demi put up a defensive pose before bursting into one of his coughing fits and dropping to his knees on the floor.  
  
Sasuke walked past Naruto, still in his human form as he stopped beside Gaara and ran his fingertips over the Demi’s wings. Without warning, he plucked out one of the feathers, sending a sharp sting that pierced through Gaara’s arm and caused him to shout in pain. Sasuke twirled the feather between his fingers before allowing it to slip from his grasp and flutter into a puddle on the ground. “Far too much trouble,” he agreed, and began to reach out for Gaara.  
  
Naruto lurched forward, grabbing Sasuke’s wrist in mid-air, though he kept his eyes on Gaara. He watched the way his mouth struggled to draw in breaths, the way his body quivered and his jade eyes fluttered in valiant attempts to stay open. He would collapse any minute now into a lifeless heap on the ground. “I want to – “ He stiffened suddenly and grabbed Sasuke’s other arm, ears tall and alert as he pushed off his feet just in time to dodge the angel’s fist which slammed into the wall, making a small crater that brick crumbled from.  
  
Naruto had Sasuke against his chest, holding him protectively until Sasuke pushed away with a curse.  
  
The angel jerked his fist from the wall, remnants of what looked like white electricity buzzing over his hand. His hair was a rich brown that cascaded over his shoulders, contrasting to his pale skin and making it seem creamy and soft. His eyes were such a light lilac color that they seemed almost white and the wings of a heron were folded neatly against his naked body. His words were soft and calm and gentle, as if he hasn’t just busted a hole through the wall in an attempt to kill them both, “Seems I arrived just in time.”  
  
The angel turned gracefully and kneeled down beside Gaara, who immediately snatched at strands of russet hair. “Neji,” he croaked out.  
  
Naruto and Sasuke watched cautiously as the angel cupped Gaara’s face and smiled softly at him. “Yes, I’m here.” He stroked his thumbs over bruised eyelids and tilted Gaara’s head up, leaned down, and pressed their mouths in a kiss.  
  
Naruto’s lips fell apart in shock and Sasuke’s eyes widened the tiniest fraction. They could only stare as Neji’s eyes, Gaara’s eyes, both slowly slid shut, and Gaara’s fingers twitched around the strands of hair before his arms suddenly fell away beside him and every line of feeling in his face was wiped clean. His wings went limp and a look of peace came over him.  
  
Sasuke snapped out of his trance and stepped forward. “Naruto,” he muttered, unsure if he was correct in assuming what had just happened. Naruto shook his head and squinted, not so sure himself.  
  
Then, the angel pulled away, his chin stained with spots of blood as Gaara’s soul – thin wisps of golden-white light – weaved out from the Demi’s mouth and into Neji’s.  
  
“He’s dead!” Naruto hollered as Sasuke’s wings sprung out, tearing through his clothes as he reverted to his natural form.  
  
Naruto sprung forward, landing on the balls of his feet as he grabbed Neji by his hair and violently wrenched him away from Gaara, the dead body thumping onto the ground as his soul slowly seeped back inside of him.  
  
Sasuke was already in front of Neji, grabbing at his throat and getting ready to snap it in half when the angel suddenly exploded into a burst of white light that forced the demons off of him quicker than if they had been burned.  
  
Naruto was panting and looked at Sasuke, whose eyes were fixed on his quivering hand. “Are you all right?” he asked worriedly.  
  
Sasuke grit his teeth and slashed his hand through the air before clenching it at his side. “He’s powerful.”  
  
Neji calmly stood back up across from them, his throat cut and leaking silver blood from where Sasuke’s claw had torn through his skin. He raised his palm face-down over Gaara’s body and began once more to draw his soul out to the tips of his fingers.  
  
“Shit,” Naruto growled and looked at Sasuke, flinching when he saw dark spirals of energy swirling viciously around him, tearing off the rest of his clothes and making his hair whip around his face. Naruto nodded, a cloak of blood-red liquid gradually engulfing his body.  
  
Neji startled slightly when the two demons suddenly vanished. He cried out when three long gashes were torn into his back, almost immediately coating it in blood. Naruto materialized beside him and with blinding speed, roundhouse kicked the angel so he went flying into the wall.  
  
Disoriented, Neji could not dodge the hand that Sasuke rammed against his chest, forcing him against the wall. He held onto Sasuke’s eyes – no longer gold but a deep, full red – and gasped sharply when spidery black veins began to slither out from Sasuke’s fingertips and cover every inch of Neji’s pale body.  
  
Sasuke’s wings curled in on them as a slow smirk stretched his lips. He pushed his hand further, causing the wall behind Neji to break into a web of cracks as Sasuke’s power flowed into the angel.  
  
Neji ‘s mouth opened in a silent scream as he clawed at the wall, his body throbbing in excruciating pain as it rejected the sinister energy being forced into it, tearing through his veins and inking through his blood until he felt like his heart was on the verge of bursting through his chest.  
  
Behind Sasuke, Naruto was grinning as he watched Sasuke slowly kill the angel and thoughtlessly placed his foot on Gaara’s chest.  
  
Neji’s eyes widened before they snapped back to Sasuke and he curled his hands into fists and fought past the pain.  
  
Sasuke raised a brow and frowned as the angel’s already strikingly pale eyes became lighter and lighter, until they were a stark white, as if they had rolled behind his head. He became wary when Neji’s mouth opened as wide as it could go and his body began to heat up exponentially under Sasuke’s touch.  
  
Sasuke didn’t know what the angel was doing, but he wasn’t going to allow him to finish. He forced his claws through Neji’s flesh, imbedding the tips of his fingers into him as he hastily speared a sharp concentration of his own energy through the angel’s body, but all it did was force out a strangled groan as a light began to flicker rapidly at the back of Neji’s throat.  
  
Sasuke was scrambling for his options as the angel prepared whatever attack he was about to use. But then Sasuke noticed that Neji’s head was angled at a slightly odd position, almost imperceptibly tilted to the side, in such a way that, were his eyes still visible, he would not be looking at Sasuke, he would be looking at…  
  
Sasuke’s breath hitched and he ripped his claws out of the angel. “Naruto!”  
  
Naruto flinched at his name and saw Sasuke vanish just as a beam of intense light shot out from Neji’s mouth. Then Naruto was being enshrouded by warmth, his eyes blanketed by pitch black darkness that was pierced by Sasuke’s unrestrained howl of agony.  
  
It couldn’t have been more than a moment or two, but Naruto’s ears rang with that howl for what seemed like hours, and he wasted no time clambering to Sasuke’s aid as the demon’s wings fell apart from the protective cage they had made, and his arms unwrapped from around Naruto to slam his palms against the dirty ground.  
  
Sasuke was breathing harshly, his eyes screwed shut in pain as his left wing laid limp against the side of his body.  
  
They had both reverted to their normal forms, and Naruto brushed his hand over the hole that had nearly burned right through Sasuke’s wing in its effort to block the attack from hitting Naruto. It was bleeding profusely, the muscle and the bone within it clearly visible, all torn. Sasuke hissed when Naruto touched the edges of the tattered flesh, so Naruto frowned and grabbed Sasuke by his hair instead, tilting his head back. “Are you okay?”  
  
“No!” Sasuke shouted angrily, his whole body convulsing in pain.  
  
So engrossed was Naruto in his concern over Sasuke, he did not even notice Neji’s palm over Gaara’s chest behind them as he pulled out the last bit of his soul. The angel remained still, coughed once and then gradually stood up; finally gaining Naruto’s attention as the fox demon practically threw himself over Sasuke and snarled up at Neji with wild red eyes. “Take the goddamn thing!” Naruto yelled, running his hands over Sasuke’s back possessively as he continued to quiver in pain. “But if you touch him, I'll fucking kill you.” There was a deep growl that rumbled from within his chest. “I swear I will.”  
  
Naruto’s warning was gravely serious, but one glance at the angel and it was apparent that there was hardly any need for it. There was silver blood trickling out from the corners of his lips and eyes; his chest was heaving as he stood on shaky legs, the attack seeming to have taken its toll on him as well. Though Neji’s body did give off a faint glow from having gathered Gaara’s soul inside of himself to take back with him to Heaven, and because of that, Gaara’s wings had disappeared, so the dead body between them was nothing more than an empty shell.  
  
The angel had accomplished what he had come for, and now he simply stood and stared down tiredly at the two demons. “He killed for me,” Neji whispered, placing his fingertips over his own heart.  
  
Naruto’s eyes narrowed and Sasuke turned back to look at the angel over his shoulder, still panting quietly.  
  
Neji sighed heavily. “It’s why he was sent here. My life was threatened by another angel, and Gaara went to unacceptable measures to protect me.” He looked down at the Demi’s serene face before his eyes flitted back to Naruto. “It’s a tad hypocritical, is it not? For Heaven to preach about love but exile those who act in its name.”  
  
Naruto snorted and bared his fangs. “Don’t speak to me as if I have any idea what that is.”  
  
“You know exactly what it is,” Neji snapped. “You express it clearly for _this_ ,” he titled his head toward Sasuke.  
  
Naruto’s brow crumpled in uncertainty, his tails curling protectively over himself and Sasuke.  
  
“But then again,” Neji chuckled dryly. “How can you understand something that in your world, is not supposed to exist?”  
  
Naruto’s eyes squeezed shut as the angel began to glow, blocking out the blinding light until he vanished, leaving traces of silver dust in the air that rained down over Gaara’s body.  
  
Sasuke grabbed Naruto by his ear, tugging at him. “You let him go,” he grumbled.  
  
Naruto stared down at the Demi they’d been sent to gather, his red eyes hard and contemplating. “Yeah,” he muttered back.  
  
“You let him _win_ ,” Sasuke scolded, the pain he was in still clear in his words.  
  
Naruto closed his eyes, his fingers tightening in Sasuke’s hair as Sasuke’s fingers did the same around his ear. “Yeah,” he repeated.  
  
Sasuke made a frustrated noise. “Idiot,” he growled.  
  
Naruto lowered his head, resting his temple upon the space between Sasuke’s wings. “No,” he argued softly.  
  


* * *

 

  
They knew there would be consequences.  
  
They were sitting together in a deserted area of Hell called _Proventus_ , where the sky was stained red and the ground was made up of mounds and mounds of human ash littered with skulls and splinters of bone.  
  
Naruto had his knees drawn up, his elbows resting on them with his tails tucked between his legs and curled over his arms. Only eight of them, Naruto’s ninth tail had been burned off as punishment for failing in his assignment.  
  
Sasuke was beside him, with several thorns imbedded into the hole in his wing.  
  
There had been a lot of… discomfort during their chastisement, but it was better than being killed. Luckily, pain was something they were used to, pain was something they enjoyed, and best of all, pain was something that faded away. The worse thing was that they had to parade around wearing their failure for all to see, but eventually, Naruto’s tail would grow back, and Sasuke’s wound would heal. In actuality, to them, they had gained much more than they had lost.  
  
Naruto grinned at Sasuke and scratched one of his furry ears. “So I… _love_ you, huh?” He licked the inside of his cheek, the word still sounding odd and tasting foreign on his tongue.  
  
Sasuke snorted. “Don’t listen to what that damn angel said, Naruto. Who knows what kind of bullshit he was spouting.”  
  
Naruto shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. “Did you see them kiss?” he asked.  
  
Sasuke rolled his eyes and gave a hardly noticeable nod.  
  
Naruto stared at Sasuke for a moment, studying the dark shade of his skin and the way the demon just simply seemed to exude power and this air of supremacy. He reached up and tugged Sasuke’s hair, getting his attention through an annoyed little grunt as Sasuke turned his head to him.  
  
Naruto wordlessly leaned forward. His mouth hovered over Sasuke’s, and a long groan of irritation escaped Sasuke when he realized Naruto was going to try and kiss him again. He couldn’t understand why Naruto was so obsessed with the damn thing; it was nothing but awkward and bothersome.  
  
But Naruto did not kiss him. He slid his tongue out and traced it over the seam of Sasuke’s lips, teasing them open and making them wet. Then he pulled away, smiling slightly as his hand fell out of Sasuke’s hair.  
  
Sasuke remained still, not particularly thrilled by what Naruto had done but not disliking it either. He suddenly grabbed Naruto’s chin and tilted his head up, moving in and pressing his mouth against Naruto’s pulse. He pushed down the urge to rip into Naruto’s flesh with is fangs, to claw at his skin and snarl into his ear. Sasuke felt his stomach tense as he gently scraped the skin with his teeth, dragging them together softly until his lips pressed closed and he moved back once more.  
  
Not necessarily a kiss, but it damn well felt better than one.  
  
Naruto laughed and smacked Sasuke’s back, careful not to brush against his wound. “Hah! We’ll get it one day!”  
  
Sasuke chuckled huskily and pushed Naruto’s head to the side. “A challenge?” he teased.  
  
Naruto’s grin was as blinding as an angel’s light. “What else?”


End file.
